Foreclosure Auctions Give Boost To Sales

January 17th, 2008

The economic predictions are gloomy. There are more houses for sale in the market than buyers. Figures do not hold out much hope for the future – rather statistics indicate that the market will be flooded with more and more foreclosed houses begging to be sold. But auctioneers Hudson & Marshall seem to have brought their own brand of good luck wherever they are going waving the auction hammer. In Atlanta there is going to be a four-day frenzy of auction brouhaha. All through Saturday they will deal with 527 houses. The company deals with properties that are owned by the bank and have remained unoccupied for at least a year. The houses range in price from $30,000 to $7000,000. Some of the units are really nice – one being an estate in Stone Mountain that has 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, a media room and a swimming pool. The asking price is $619,900.

Last August Hudson & Marshall offered 325 units for sale to investors as well as for those wanting houses. 62% of these sold at rates ranging from $7,000 to $650,000. Crystal Wright representing the company gave this information. Most of those who had been present at the August auctions were speculators hoping to pick up a bargain and resell it with profit.

At any other time there would not have much to write about an auction but today the picture is different. There are too many houses sitting idle as a result of the foreclosure crisis. The banks now do not know what to do with these units. The banks are not landlords. The money they expected to come in from these units in the form of interest has dried out. It is true they have realized the property in lieu of the cash they had advanced to borrowers but if the houses cannot be sold then these are just dead weights round their necks. With mortgage strings being tightened because of a cash crunch there are no buyers for the units. Idle houses are attracting crime. The government is growling because taxes are not coming in. The public is angry. The media is hostile fanning the flames and roundly joining in the general cry of blaming the banks for the foreclosure blues. There is an international hue and cry and if the houses remain unsold more heads will roll as now the law is stepping in against the banks.